The Terror Years: From al-Qaeda to the Islamic State

With the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Looming Tower, Lawrence Wright became generally acknowledged as one of our major journalists writing on terrorism in the Middle East. This collection draws on several articles he wrote while researching that book as well as many that he's written since, following where and how al-Qaeda and its core cultlike beliefs have morphed and spread.

Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS

Pulitzer Prize, General nonfiction, 2016. When Jordan granted amnesty to a group of political prisoners in 1999, it little realized that among them was Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a terrorist mastermind and soon the architect of an Islamist movement bent on dominating the Middle East. In Black Flags, an unprecedented account of the rise of ISIS, Joby Warrick shows how the zeal of this one man and the strategic mistakes of Presidents Bush and Obama led to the banner of ISIS being raised over huge swaths of Syria and Iraq.

The Black Banners: The Inside Story of 9/11 and the War against alQaeda

On September 12, 2001, FBI Special Agent Ali H. Soufan was handed a secret file. Had he received it months earlier—when it was requested—the attacks on New York and Washington could have been prevented. During his time on the front lines, Soufan helped thwart plots around the world and elicited some of the most important confessions from terrorists in the war against alQaeda—without laying so much as a hand on them.

Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001

The explosive first-hand account of America's secret history in Afghanistan. With the publication of Ghost Wars, Steve Coll became not only a Pulitzer Prize winner, but also the expert on the rise of the Taliban, the emergence of Bin Laden, and the secret efforts by CIA officers and their agents to capture or kill Bin Laden in Afghanistan after 1998.

The Iran Wars: Spy Games, Bank Battles, and the Secret Deals That Reshaped the Middle East

This is a book rife with revelations, from the secret communications between the Obama administration and the Iranian government to dispatches from the front lines of the new field of financial warfare. For listeners of Steve Coll's Ghost Wars and Lawrence Wright's The Looming Tower, The Iran Wars exposes the hidden history of a conflict most Americans don't even realize is being fought but whose outcome could have far-reaching geopolitical implications.

The Triple Agent: The al-Qaeda Mole who Infiltrated the CIA

In December 2009, a group of the CIA’s top terrorist hunters gathered at a secret base in Khost, Afghanistan, to greet a rising superspy: Humam Khalil al-Balawi, a Jordanian double-agent who infiltrated the upper ranks of al-Qaeda. For months, he had sent shocking revelations from inside the terrorist network and now promised to help the CIA assassinate Osama bin Laden’s top deputy. Instead, as he stepped from his car, he detonated a 30-pound bomb strapped to his chest, instantly killing seven CIA operatives....

Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief

A clear-sighted revelation, a deep penetration into the world of Scientology by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the The Looming Tower, the now-classic study of al-Qaeda’s 9/11 attack. Based on more than 200 personal interviews with both current and former Scientologists - both famous and less well known - and years of archival research, Lawrence Wright uses his extraordinary investigative ability to uncover for us the inner workings of the Church of Scientology.

Thirteen Days in September: Carter, Begin, and Sadat at Camp David

A gripping day-by-day account of the 1978 Camp David conference, when President Jimmy Carter persuaded Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian president Anwar Sadat to sign the first peace treaty in the modern Middle East, one which endures to this day.

The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy, and Doomsday Vision of the Islamic State

How did the Islamic State attract so many followers and conquer so much land? By being more ruthless, more apocalyptic, and more devoted to state building than its competitors. The shrewd leaders of the Islamic State combined two of the most powerful yet contradictory ideas in Islam - the return of the Islamic Empire and the end of the world - into a mission and a message that shapes its strategy and inspires its army of zealous fighters.

Hitler: Ascent 1889-1939

For all the literature about Adolf Hitler, there have been just four seminal biographies; this is the fifth, a landmark work that sheds important new light on Hitler himself. Drawing on previously unseen papers and a wealth of recent scholarly research, Volker Ullrich reveals the man behind the public persona, from Hitler's childhood, to his failures as a young man in Vienna, to his experiences during the First World War, to his rise as a far-right party leader.

Monsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power

On the world maps common in America, the Western Hemisphere lies front and center, while the Indian Ocean region all but disappears. This convention reveals the geopolitical focus of the now-departed 20th century, but in the 21st century, that focus will fundamentally change. In this pivotal examination of the countries known as “Monsoon Asia”—which include India, Pakistan, China, Indonesia, Burma, Oman, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Tanzania—best-selling author Robert D. Kaplan explains how crucial this dynamic area has become to American power.

The New Tsar: The Rise and Reign of Vladimir Putin

The epic tale of the rise to power of Russia's current president - the only complete biography in English - that fully captures his emergence from shrouded obscurity and deprivation to become one of the most consequential and complicated leaders in modern history, by the former New York Times Moscow bureau chief.

A Rage for Order: The Middle East in Turmoil, from Tahrir Square to ISIS

In 2011 a wave of revolution spread through the Middle East as protesters demanded an end to tyranny, corruption, and economic decay. From Egypt to Yemen, a generation of young Arabs insisted on a new ethos of common citizenship. Five years later their utopian aspirations have taken on a darker cast as old divides reemerge and deepen. In one country after another, brutal terrorists and dictators have risen to the top.

Katie Davis says:"Captivating storytelling approach to the Arab uprisings and their aftermath"

Narconomics: How to Run a Drug Cartel

What drug lords learned from big business. How does a budding cartel boss succeed (and survive) in the $300 billion illegal drug business? By learning from the best, of course. From creating brand value to fine-tuning customer service, the folks running cartels have been attentive students of the strategy and tactics used by corporations such as Walmart, McDonald's, and Coca-Cola.

The Arabs: A History

In this definitive history of the modern Arab world, award-winning historian Eugene Rogan draws extensively on Arab sources and texts to place the Arab experience in its crucial historical context for the first time. Tracing five centuries of Arab history, Rogan reveals that there was an age when the Arabs set the rules for the rest of the world. Today, however, the Arab world's sense of subjection to external powers carries vast consequences for both the region and Westerners who attempt to control it.

American Maelstrom: The 1968 Election and the Politics of Division: Pivotal Moments in American History

American Maelstrom captures the full drama of the watershed election of 1968, establishing this year as the hinge between the decline of political liberalism, the ascendancy of conservative populism, and the rise of anti-government attitudes that continue to dominate the nation's political discourse. This sweeping and immersive book, equal parts compelling analysis and thrilling narrative, takes us to the very source of our modern politics of division.

Robert E. Osborne says:"How the words and images of 1968 linger today…"

ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror

Initially dismissed by US President Barack Obama, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has shocked the world by conquering massive territories in both countries and promising to create a vast new Muslim caliphate that observes the strict dictates of Sharia law. In ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror, American journalist Michael Weiss and Syrian analyst Hassan Hassan explain how these violent extremists evolved from a nearly defeated Iraqi insurgent group into a jihadi army of international volunteers who have conquered territory equal to the size of Great Britain.

America's War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History

From the end of World War II until 1980, virtually no American soldiers were killed in action while serving in the Greater Middle East. Since 1990, virtually no American soldiers have been killed in action anywhere else. What caused this shift? Andrew J. Bacevich, one of the country's most respected voices on foreign affairs, offers an incisive critical history of this ongoing military enterprise - now more than 30 years old and with no end in sight.

Publisher's Summary

Pulitzer Prize, General Nonfiction, 2007

This is a sweeping narrative history of the events leading to 9/11, a groundbreaking look at the people and ideas, the terrorist plans, and the Western intelligence failures that culminated in the assault on America. Lawrence Wright's remarkable book is based on five years of research and hundreds of interviews that he conducted in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sudan, England, France, Germany, Spain, and the United States.

The Looming Tower achieves an unprecedented level of intimacy and insight by telling the story through the interweaving lives of four men: the two leaders of al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri; the FBI's counterterrorism chief, John O'Neill; and the former head of Saudi intelligence, Prince Turki al-Faisal.

As these lives unfold, we see revealed the crosscurrents of modern Islam that helped to radicalize Zawahiri and bin Laden; the birth of al-Qaeda and its unsteady development into an organization capable of the American embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania and the attack on the USS Cole; O'Neill's heroic efforts to track al-Qaeda before 9/11, and his tragic death in the World Trade towers; Prince Turki's transformation from bin Laden's ally to his enemy; and the failures of the FBI, CIA, and NSA to share intelligence that might have prevented the 9/11 attacks.

The Looming Tower broadens and deepens our knowledge of these signal events by taking us behind the scenes. Here is Sayyid Qutb, founder of the modern Islamist movement, lonely and despairing as he meets Western culture up close in 1940s America; the privileged childhoods of bin Laden and Zawahiri; family life in the al-Qaeda compounds of Sudan and Afghanistan; O'Neill's high-wire act in balancing his all-consuming career with his equally entangling personal life (he was living with three women, each of them unaware of the others' existence); and the nitty-gritty of turf battles among U.S. intelligence agencies.

What the Critics Say

Pulitzer Prize, General Nonfiction, 2007

Audie Award Finalist, Non-Fiction, Unabridged, 2007

"Comprehensive and compelling." (Kirkus) "Deeply researched...immaculately crafted." (The Wall Street Journal) "Important, gripping....One of the best books yet on the history of terrorism." (Publishers Weekly) "A thoughtful examination of the world that produced the men who brought us 9/11, and of their progeny who bedevil us today....The Looming Tower is a thriller. And it's a tragedy, too." (The New York Times Book Review)

Audio: Excellent. Clear, well-enunciated, easy to understand. Authentic pronunciations of the many Arabic names and places (as far as I know). To my ears the narrator has a North American English accent (Canadian or American, not British).

Content: Riveting... Sobering... Chilling... A thoroughly detailed history of modern Radical Islam and Islamic terrorism from the 1940's through 9/11/2001. Despite the obvious culmination in 9/11 I'd say 90% of the book is spent on the 40's through the 90's. A lot of encounters amongst the terrorists are described in a story and dialogue style, bringing the history alive. Though an audiobook listener doesn't have access to references or index the author must have used interviews and eyewitness accounts for such reconstructions. It certainly makes for an engrossing read. This book was published around Aug. 2006 and though I'd heard about it often I assumed it was "just about 9/11". It is much more than that and I'm glad I finally got around to it. This is a must-read historical primer and I put it right up there with anything by Robert Spencer or books such as The Shia Revival, America Alone, or Kite Runner. I highly recommend this book.

Americans may wonder why Al-Queda and Osama bin Laden wanted to attack America. One may also wonder how they were able to carry it out. This book makes it all much clearer. Placing the events of September 2001 in a long historical perspective, the work is excellent. The narrator does a wonderful job with the many complex names of the Egyptians, Saudis, and others living in the Middle East. Well worth listening to.

Like many Americans, I watched the news, read the papers, listened to the reports... I had the facts, but there were too many and I could not synthesize them into a meaningful understanding.

This book brings it together, drawing together the threads of this story in a clear and useful way. The story paints both many of the characters with both the brush of respect and the brush of critical examination. This fact-based history is also woven together in the multi-threaded style of current fictional adventure stories, making it both informative and attention grabbing simultaneously.

In turns, I was frustrated, angry, disbelieving, and amazed. In the end I was grateful for the broader principles and understanding that came from absorbing this account.

This is a fascinating history of Islamic Fundamentalism. It sets forth clear and balanced explanations of different theories of Islam and how fundamentalists have interpreted those theories to justify modern terrorism. At the same time, the book explains the history (over decades) of the fundamentalist movement, as well as the US government mistakes -- and successes -- in responding to the impending threat. I found the narration to be well-paced: it was slower in places discussing ideas, names, and terms with which most Americans are not familiar, which allowed me to process and remember foreign names and terms without having to backtrack to cover the same ground again. The narration's pace was faster when discussing the work performed by US agents and the government in-fighting that hampered the detection of the 9/11 plot.

This was a perfect book to go through as an audiobook. Lawrence Wright manages to provide a historical perspective on the Jihadi movements, a detailed look at Bin Laden and his closest associates, and at the same time fleshes out the squables between the CIA, FBI, and the Clinton and Bush administrations that provided Bin Laden with an openning to bring down the World trade center and the Pentagon as well as a fourth plane planned for the White House or Capitol. Not only was the text well conceived, it was very well read and easy to listen to. Altogether very worth the time.

After 9/11 I read and read and read trying to find a reason for "why" these radical Muslims hate us. This book gives an insightful history of Bin-Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri and others involved in the current "jihad" against the West. It gives a history of many countries in the region, most notably Egypt's political struggles and how Saudi Arabia went from sand to wealth and the elder Bin-Laden's role in its development.

If you are looking for answers as to why 9/11 happened, well I don't think any sane person will ever have that answer. If you are looking for a history of how distorted ideologies created such monsters, then you will get that from this book.

Anyone interested in learning more about a region, the evolution of a very distorted ideology, and in my opinion, the destruction of a peaceful religion, you will be satisfied with what you learn.

Write's account of the history of the radical fundamentalist Islamic movement is thorough, detailed, insightful and very digestible. A great primer for understanding why Americans' belief in the "irresitible lure of democracy and the American way of life" is a dangerous fantasy when trying to deal with what is truly a religious war that has been declared on America.

The only disappointing aspect of Write's account is that he seems to have "taken sides" with FBI sources for his book. He characterizes the failures to do more to prevent 9/11 as largely a question of intelligence community turf protection. The "wall" he flippantly writes off as imaginary was very real to the people in both intelligence and law enforcement who were constantly under threat not to jeopardize prosecutions by "polluting" cases with intelligence information that could not be revealed in court. It was so real that nothing short of the tragegy of losing almost 3000 souls finally led to the legislation necessary to bring it down.

That one flawed lack of objectivity, however, is overridden by the value of insight this book brings to understanding the motivations behind the new reality our world is facing. An excellent book, and a great narrator.

It took a little bit to get into this one, but once it got going it was absolutely fascinating. To truly understand the world of Islamic terror of our day and it historical roots, this book is indispensible. No agenda, everyone involved is criticized or praised where deserved. Winner of LA Times Book of the Year, Pulitzer Prize...everyone should read.

One of the best audiobooks I have listened to. May be a little slow at first, but this builds an entire history of the rise of islamic fundamentalism from the 1940s on. In particular, the final chapters track closely the rise of Al Quada and make for fascinating listening. The amount of research/interviews the author must have done is almost incomprehensible, as he brings the reader right into meetings/conversations that occurred in the most isolated countries in the world. A truly phenomenol comprehensive review, that keeps building and getting better throughout.